2 . Climate experts have warned about the many ways a warming planet can negatively affect human health. ________ global temperatures are predicted to increase by 1.5℃ by the 2030s, that risk is becoming increasingly real.

One long-held prediction that appears to be coming true — according to the results of a study recently published in Nature Scientific Reports — is how climate change might enhance ________ of bacteria that thrive and spread through warm sea waters and cause an infection with a particularly high ________ rate.

Vibrio vulnificus (创伤弧菌) flourishes in salty or brackish waters above 68℉. Infections are currently rare in the U.S., but that’s likely to change. Using 30 years of data on infections, scientists at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. found that Vibrio vulnificusis ________ from its historic Gulf Coast range, with more Northern states reporting infections as waters become warmer.

“We’re seeing the core ________ of infections extending to areas that traditionally have very few and very rare cases,” says Elizabeth Archer, a Ph.D. researcher and ________ author of the study. “But these areas are now coming into the main area of infections.”

Based on the latest data on how much the world’s water and air temperatures will rise, the scientists predict that by 2081, Vibrio vulnificus infections could reach every state along the U.S. East Coast. Currently, only about 80 cases are reported in the U.S. each year; by 2081, that could go up to over three-fold, the authors say.

Such a proliferation could have serious health consequences. Vibrio vulnificus kills approximately 20% of the healthy people it infects, and 50% of those with weakened immune systems. There is little evidence that antibiotics can ________ the infection, but doctors may prescribe them in some cases. People can get infected either by eating raw shellfish like oysters or by exposing small ________ to waters where the bacteria live, which can lead to serious skin infections.

Warming sea temperatures aren’t the only reasons behind the rise of Vibrio vulnificus. Hotter air also draws more people to the coasts and bays, bringing them into closer contact with the bacteria.

“The bacteria are part of the natural marine environment, so I don’t think we can ________ it from the environment,” says Archer. “It’s more about mitigating infections by increasing ________ of the risk.”

To alert people to the growing threat, ________ systems are needed to track when concentrations of bacteria start to rise, similar to currently available pollen and pollution alarm.

Vbrio vulnificus is so ________ to temperature changes that concentrations could bloom after even a day of warmer water, so consistent monitoring and alerts are critical, says Iain Lake, professor of environmental epidemiology at University of East Anglia and senior author of the paper.

Lake says the expansion of Vibrio vulnificus is concerning for public health since the bacteria are now invading waters closer to heavily ________ areas, such as New York and Philadelphia. “Everyone can get a Vibrio vulnificus infection,” he says. “But the more ________ there is between warmer waters and people, the more the bacteria can move into populations ________ the elderly and those with other health conditions, who are more vulnerable to infections.”

Stall holders (小摊贩) at     1     bustling night market in Dongyang, Zhejiang province, now have one less thing to worry about after the local trade union federation helped establish a child care center, which spend the same amount of time on a daily basis tending their youngsters as they do     2     (earn) bread and butter at night.

The center     3     (launch) in June on Zhenxing Road to help relieve the pressure on many of those running its 435 street stalls, many of     4     are migrant workers from around the country     5     local relatives to help take care of their children.

During a visit     6     (early) this year to the crowded and noisy market in the     7     (city) Wuning subdistrict, Mao Fenghua, head of the local trade union federation, found a child doing homework near a street stall. “The night market is noisy and crowded. It is hard for the children to keep their attention     8     (focus) on their studies with all the noise, and the parents will never be able to concentrate on their business     9     they have to look after their children,” she said.

Mao visited every stall along the road to learn about     10     (convenient) facing the parents. One of these was Xia Qiongfang, from Hubei province, who sells screen protectors for mobile devices at the night market alongside her husband.

5 . Pay No Mind: People Admit to Driving, Texting, Drinking During Telehealth Visits

A recent study of 1,000 Americans revealed people are quite distracted during their virtual doctors and therapy appointments.

Hello, people of the technologically advanced world. Remember how we all hoped technology would make us better, more evolved? How’s that going for us lately? Great, I suspect — because look at how far we have come!     1    

The only problem is that we all seem to be having a tough time concentrating. On Wednesday, a survey from a health company found people texting, driving, watching TV, playing video games and even drinking during telehealth visits.

The study was small, surveying only 1,000 Americans over the age of 18 — but people admitted to exercising (18%), scrolling through social media (21%) and even smoking (11%) during health visits.     2     When Forbes expanded on the study through case studies and doctors’ interviews, they found out it’s not even just patients-it’s doctors, too.

Confused? Well, let’s talk it through…

Who decided we should be sober during health visits anyway?

To be fair, I have always thought that conversations about fungal infections, or having to strip off completely naked in front of a complete stranger, are things best done drunk. But if you really want to take your health seriously, perhaps it’s better to start with a clear mind.

Oh, so you mean there are downsides to visiting the doctors from the comfort of our homes?

    3    

Get used to it! Now people are pretty good in the art of multitasking.

Yes. And for us to truly move forward we must constantly disrupt! Or be disrupted! By, er…drinking beers. At least some people were exercising during their health visits, I suppose.

Are there any dangerous behaviors which have been reported?

Some have admitted to driving during their health appointments. In fact, one doctor told Forbes that she has had to ask patients to pull over on to the side of the road during their appointments so that they can concentrate.

    4     Doctors have said that they are also finding it hard to concentrate in this new reality, where the buzzing of our phones, the allure of the television, or the unexpected knock on the door seem to be teaming up against us to steal our attention while at work.

Perhaps your life is not that interesting-your therapist might be busy doing more important things, like watching TV series.

6 . It’s Time for Apple to Build a Less Addictive iPhone

It’s not Apple’s fault that you feel enslaved by your phone. But the company giving the world the modern smartphone has a perfect opportunity to create a brave and groundbreaking new _____ on that device: a phone that encourages you to use it more thoughtfully, more deliberately — and a lot less.

Tech “addiction” is a topic of rising _____. The issue isn’t really new. Researchers who study how we use digital technology have for years been warning of its potential _____ effects on our cognition, psyche and well-being. They’re worried about distraction, productivity, how social networks alter our emotional lives and relationships, and what they’re doing to children.

Companies that make money from your _____   — that is, ad-supported apps like Facebook and YouTube — now _____ armies of people who work with supercomputers to hook you even more deeply into their services. Sure, we should call on them to act more _____ — and Facebook, for its part, has said it’s willing to lose money to improve its users’ well-being — but will they be able to suppress their economic interests?

Government _____ and more restraint from users might also help. The former is unlikely and the latter is insufficient. So who’s left? The same company that always seems to _____ when it’s time to cross into a new era of technology: Apple.

Apple isn’t responsible for the excesses of the digital ad business. _____ , it still has a moral responsibility to — and a business interest in — the well-being of its customers.

While Apple is not part of the ad business, it has lots of ______ over it. Every tech company needs a ______ on the iPhone or iPad; this means that Apple can set the rules for everyone. A single update to its operating system, ______ , could curb some of the worst excesses in how apps monitor and notify you to keep you ______ (as it has done, for instance, by allowing ad blockers in its mobile devices). As smartphone makers tend to copy Apple’s best inventions, whatever Apple did to reduce our dependence on our phones, others will soon ______ .

Another thing that Apple is good at is marketing. It could easily make a lot of ads showing people getting more out of iPhones and iPads by ______ from them for a little while. Note that it already sells a device, the Apple Watch, whose marketing praises the magic of leaving your phone behind.

How we live with technology is the cultural issue of the next half-century. Let’s hope it’s working on something grand.

8 . Chief Executives Are the New Monarchs

When Christopher Columbus sought finance for his planned westward voyage to the “Indies”, he first turned to the king of Portugal before achieving success with Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Monarchs financed explorations because they believed such trips would boost their power and treasuries.

In the 21st century, corporate executives have become deeply involved in adventure and exploration. Sir Richard Branson of Virgin and Jeff Bezos of Amazon have travelled to the edge of space. Elon Musk of Tesla has developed the Space X programme and is talking of the eventual colonization of Mars.    1    Like past rulers, modern tycoons build their own monuments in the form of corporate headquarters, not just skyscrapers in New York but the vast, low-rise campuses in Silicon Valley. Whereas the ancient dynasts travelled in horse-driven coaches, modern CEOs separate themselves from the public in chauffeur-driven cars and private jets.

    2    At court of Louis I, France’s “Sun King”, the rhythm of the day was entirely devoted to the monarchs habits, with the luckiest courtiers (侍从) watching him get dressed, have lunch, and go to bed. Modern CEOs also have the ability to change the schedules of those around them. If they get up at 5 a.m. to send messages, someone on the staff will feel obliged to rise early in order to answer them. If they hold video conferences on weekends, the family life of subordinates (下属) will suffer.

Royal dynasties added to their empires through both military conquest and strategic marriages. Modern executives achieve the same effect by using their financial power to buy smaller rivals.    3    

In effect, the evil of ancient monarchs was too much ambition. The military overreach (不自量力) of Spain’s Philip Ⅱ in his battle with England and the Netherlands was followed by the country’s steady decline as a global power, for example.    4    They often acquire businesses that do not fit with the rest of their enterprise. Or, like many an ancient ruler, they make the mistake of fighting on two fronts. The greatest danger to monarchs can sometimes arrive when they appear to be at the height of their powers.

9 . Marilu Arce loves her job, but for a time she considered leaving. The traffic-plagued commute from her home to her office, nearly two hours each way, meant her daughters couldn’t enroll in after school activities because she couldn’t get home in time to take them.

Then her employer adopted a policy permitting her to work from home two days a week, and “I feel like it changed my life,” she said. Her stress level has dropped. Her daughters are thrilled. She likes her job more. That’s the type of reaction Arce’s boss likes to hear as the company measures the success of the work-from-home policy which was instituted three years ago in hopes of improving employee retention. So far, it seems to be working: turnover was less than five percent last year—its lowest ever.

Flexible work policies top employee wish lists when they look for a job, and employers increasingly have been offering them. Studies have shown working remotely increases employee engagement, but in moderation because there is still value in the relationships nurtured when colleagues are face to face. The key, advocates of flexible work policies say, is to match the environment with the type of work that needs to be done.

The flexibility hasn’t hurt productivity, which is up 50 percent. There is “something lost” when colleagues don’t gather at the water cooler, but it’s outweighed by the retention and happiness gains, he said. As jobs that require physical work decline, thanks to technological advances, life superficially appears to get better. Consumers benefit in the form of cheaper prices. Labor-saving appliances all make things easier and suggest that even more and better benefits are on the horizon. But is something lost?

Talk long enough to the most accomplished academics, they will brag about a long-ago college summer job waiting tables or repairing hiking trails. They might praise the installer who redid their kitchen. There seems to be a human instinct to want to do physical work. The proliferation of hard-work reality-television programming reflects this apparent need. Indeed, the more we have become immobile and urbanized, the more we tune in to watch reality television’s truckers, loggers, farmers, drillers and rail engineers. In a society that supposedly despises menial jobs, the television ratings for such programmes suggest that lots of Americans enjoy watching people of action, who work with their hands.

Physical work, in its eleventh hour within a rapidly changing Western culture, still intrigues us in part because it remains the foundation for 21st century complexity. Before any of us can teach, write or speculate, we must first have food, shelter and safety. And for a bit longer, that will require some people to cut grapes and nail two-by-sixes. No apps or 3D printers exist to produce brown rice. Physical labour also promotes human versatility: Those who do not do it, or who do not know how to do it, become divorced from—and, at the same time, dependent on—labourers. Lawyers, accountants and journalists living in houses with yards and driving cars to work thus count on a supporting infrastructure of electricians, landscapers and mechanics. In that context, physical labour can provide independence, at least in a limited sense of not being entirely reliant on a host of hired workers.